How your business can bring a little joy to the world this holiday season.

Ahh, the holidays. The most wonderful…or should we say busy…time of year. Many small businesses rely heavily on sales during the holiday season. We’ve got some great marketing ideas that will help you end your year in good cheer! So snuggle up with your Pumpkin Latte and read along.

Always have a plan. In order for a good marketing strategy to work, you have to actually plan for it. And plan early so that you are ready. Like three months in advance early. Whether it’s online advertising, email marketing, a direct mail campaign or all of the above, make sure that you start planning now, before you’re tangled up in tinsel. Oh, and make sure you’re staffed to handle the holiday madness too.

Highlight your brand promise. Your business has something to give. You fulfill a unique customer need. Give your customers a fun and actionable reason why they should purchase from you.

Spread good cheer using video. You’ve heard it all year long, when it comes to marketing, video is hot! In fact, 64% of online shoppers say that video on social media helped them decide on a product to buy (click to learn more) Create a personal connection this season with a live video.

Make it personal. Personally thank your customers for all that they have given you throughout the year. Who doesn’t love the warm fuzzies you get from a thoughtful thank you? (hint: direct mail is still super effective. Check out our previous blog on this topic here)

Make it easy. The holiday season is fun, but also filled with shopping, parties, and many other obligations that take up a lot of time. Create a marketing campaign that highlights how you can give people more time to spend with their loved ones this holiday season, or how you can make their lives easier or save them money. Highlight your top sellers or offer gift suggestions.

Make it social! Almost 50% of online stores receive significant traffic from their social media pages. Create holiday tips & tricks that are socially shareable. Everyone loves a good graphic. Create something compelling that features the product/service you provide and position yourself as a lifestyle choice. Consumers love to be a part of something.

Consistency is key. As one of the key components to building a successful brand, being consistent across all channels is mission critical. It builds brand recognition and loyalty.

Don’t forget your SEO. The best way to make sure that you show up in search results is to make sure you have a solid SEO strategy. Because many keywords are seasonal, you’ll want to also make sure that you are ranking well for your main keywords. SEO takes time, so the sooner you start the better position you’ll be in December.

Make them customers for life. Don’t be short sighted this holiday season. First, it’s likely that if someone purchase from you earlier this year, that they may purchase from you again. Furthermore, if someone purchases from you during the holidays, they are likely to purchase from you again at some point the next year. Keep them coming back for more.

FOMO is real. That’s “Fear Of Missing Out” for those of you who didn’t know. And it’s a real thing. So use it to your advantage when it comes to marketing. People don’t want to miss out. Limited quantities, limited time offers you get the idea.

The best and most successful marketing strategies are the ones that have been carefully thought out, planned for and executed in a timely manner. Hopefully you’re ready for a successful holiday season. If not, we get it. We can help make the season a little brighter for you. Just give us a call!